12-country TPP talks end without a breakthrough

Chief negotiators from 12 countries aiming to forge a Pacific free trade initiative finished four days of talks on Sunday, a Japanese official said, apparently without making major progress.

The trade officials from the United States, Japan and 10 other countries gathered in a Washington suburb with intellectual property, including data on new drugs, and reform of state-owned entities as their main issues, according to negotiation sources.

The meeting of chief TPP negotiators resumed after a bipartisan group of influential U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill seen as a key step to aiding the multilateral negotiations.